Harold "Shorty" Baker (May 26, 1914 in St. Louis, Missouri, US – November 8, 1966) was an American jazz trumpeter.[1]
Baker began on drums, but switched to trumpet during his teens. He started his career on riverboats and played with Don Redman in the mid-1930s.[1] He also worked with Teddy Wilson and Andy Kirk before joining Duke Ellington.[1] He married Kirk's pianist Mary Lou Williams[1] and though the two separated shortly thereafter, they never officially divorced.
Baker worked on and off in Duke Ellington's Orchestra from 1942 to 1962.[1] He also worked with Johnny Hodges's group in the early 1950s, during the period when Hodges was not a member of Ellington's orchestra.[1]
He died of throat cancer in New York at the age of 52.[2]
- ^ a b c d e f Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 27/8. ISBN 0-85112-580-8.
- ^ Owsley, D. (2006). City of Gabriels: The History of Jazz in St. Louis, 1895-1973. United States: Reedy Press, p. 57